The present invention relates to the boat industry and, more particularly, to the field of boat protective devices and methods.
In the boat industry, over the years, boats, and particularly boat hulls, have been damaged by rocks, sand bars, storms, fires, poor construction, and various other reasons. The result is often a distressed boat out in the middle of a body of water such as an ocean, a sea, a lake, or river. The crew or passengers of a distressed boat may have an emergency kit or equipment such as life jackets, flares, rafts, food rations, radio equipment, or the like to assist in initiating distress signals to the Coast Guard, other agencies, or potential rescuers. The emergency equipment may allow crew or passengers to be rescued if rescue personnel arrive in time. The rescue personnel, however, often are not able to help or rescue the boat itself. Also, the damage to the hull of the boat often causes the boat to sink and often with boating equipment, crew, and passengers on the boat. Even if crew or passengers are not hurt, the boat itself and the boating equipment often can be quite expensive and can be a severe loss for the owner as well as insurance companies. Unless treasure or some other extraordinarily expensive equipment is on the boat, the costs associated with trying to raise the boat from the depth of a body of water are often prohibitive.
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention advantageously provides a combination boat and distressed boat flotation apparatus, a distressed boat flotation apparatus, and methods of installing and using a boat flotation apparatus which prevents a boat from sinking so that the boat and crew or passengers can be rescued more effectively. The present invention also advantageously provides a combination boat and distressed boat flotation apparatus, a distressed boat flotation apparatus, and methods of installing and using a boat flotation apparatus which saves the expense of a complete loss of a boat and assist in reducing insurance costs associated with expensive boats and equipment sinking. The present invention also advantageously provides a combination boat and distressed boat flotation apparatus, a distressed boat flotation apparatus, and methods of installing and using a boat flotation apparatus which enhances locating a distressed boat, assists crew and passengers on the distressed boat in notifying rescue personnel of the distressed condition, and assists crew and passengers in surviving while waiting until rescue personnel arrive.
More particularly, the present invention provides a combined boat and distressed boat flotation apparatus which preferably has a boat including a boat hull having an outer surface and an inner surface and a plurality of flotation containers positioned to substantially surround the boat hull when inflated with a gas responsive to the boat hull being in a distressed condition so that the boat is prevented from sinking by the inflated plurality of flotation containers. The distressed condition preferably is defined by water passing through the outer surface of the boat hull into contact with the inner surface of the boat hull when the boat is positioned in a body of water or the boat capsizing. The combination also preferably includes a plurality of spaced-apart moisture sensors each embedded in the boat hull to sense the distressed condition and a distressed condition controller positioned in communication with the plurality of moisture sensors and the plurality of flotation containers to control the inflation of the plurality of flotation containers responsive to at least one of the plurality of moisture sensors sensing the distressed condition.
The present invention also provides a distressed boat flotation apparatus which preferably includes a plurality of flotation containers adapted to be positioned to substantially surround a boat hull of a boat when inflated with a gas responsive to the boat hull being in a distressed condition so that the boat is prevented from sinking by the inflated plurality of flotation containers. The distressed condition preferably is defined when water passes through the outer surface of the boat hull into contact with the inner surface of the boat hull when the boat is positioned in a body of water or the boat being capsized. The apparatus also preferably includes a plurality of spaced-apart moisture sensors each embedded in the boat hull to sense the distressed condition and a distressed condition controller positioned in communication with the plurality of moisture sensors and the plurality of flotation containers to control the inflation of the plurality of flotation containers responsive to at least one of the plurality of moisture sensors sensing the distressed condition.
The present invention additionally provides a method of installing a boat flotation apparatus on a boat. The method preferably includes positioning a plurality of moisture sensors within a boat hull of a boat and positioning a plurality of flotation containers to substantially surround the boat hull when inflated.
Another method of preventing a boat from sinking responsive to damage to the hull of the boat according to the present invention preferably includes sensing water passing through the boat hull and inflating a plurality of flotation containers positioned to substantially surround the boat hull when inflated and to float the boat therewith thereby preventing sinking of the boat.